My Most Faithful Mortifer

by hamishwarfare

Chapter. 8 – Celestia’s Day Out

Chapter. 8 – Celestia’s Day Out

These past few days have been more eventful than Princess Celestia was expecting; between Shining Armor coming back early from Manehatten as well as her unexpected summons just yesterday. It has been an exhausting time.

Currently she was in her private chambers sitting next to an unlit fire place just staring into the non-existent flames. All her regalia had been removed with almost gleeful abandon before they were replaced with a much more comfortable and light weight semi transparent dressing gown detailed with images of her cutie mark. It comfortably covered her torso and the majority of her hind legs leaving her forelegs exposed thanks to its short sleeves.

Beside her, sitting on a side table nearby, was a highly decorated china cup with its contents slowly going cold.

It was just an hour ago that she had taken her sun down for a well-deserved rest, before allowing the moon to have her time with the ponies of the world. Her eyes travelled up to the glittering jewels of her sister’s night; trying to see which one of them had changed their position this eve. Those glittering gems in the sky were so subtle it was almost impossible to tell. Every day they were getting closer to finally freeing their mistress from the moon. To finally free Luna…

A forceful shake of her head derailed that train of thought and forced her mind to focus on something else.

The report Shining gave her upon his return was, while not as bad as her worst case scenario suggested, still bad enough that she feared the need for a heavy hoof in these changes. Clearly self-reporting was no longer working and corruption was blossoming in Manehatten.

The past two generations of advisors had told her to “modernise” her reporting system. That her ponies in power could be persuaded in one way or another to look the other way in matters that could go against her directions.

Thankfully the reporting was more financially driven than malicious thoughts against Equestria; but it was still a worrying realisation. It is such a delicate balancing act in these matters that it could, without anypony realising it, bring about the very real possibility of ending Equestria.

Ponies in power are supposed to lead by example. If they get away with breaking laws then what’s to stop others from following in their hoof steps? ‘Sigh, looks like yet another reform is on the horizon; just what I need before the manure hits in a year. Oh to have a sounding board that I haven’t influenced with my way of thinking. We did so well together…once.’

Celestia paused her thinking as she did some breathing exercises; bringing her emotions back under control. She did allow a single tear to escape however.

At least it was caught early enough that actual disruption to the populace as a whole would be minor at worse; it was just frustrating to see such promising ponies fall away to corruption.

Still Prince Armor’s idea for a full domestic intelligence service appeared to be successful so far; but it was just another area to watch and make sure that power does not go to pony’s heads. Who will watch the watchers to ensure that they are not compromised? It’s a vicious, potentially never ending cycle. ‘I do trust Shining Armor though.’

Speaking of power, her mind wondered to her summons the day previously and the potential ramifications that it could have on the world, not just Equestria.

---

It all began with her sitting down to breakfast having just raised the sun; her mind going over what she had planned for her student, Trixie, that day when her eyes were drawn to the table placement in front of her. There, sitting on top of the napkin on her plate was something that did not belong; something that wasn’t there when the setting was placed in front of her just minutes ago.

It was the size and shape of a black bit with a small image of a white crescent moon and three white slashes between the peaks. It was a symbol that meant so much, but also hurt just as badly. It was the last gift her sister gave Equestria before her spiral into madness. Perhaps this symbol was the first sign of it.

An organisation separate from direct control of anypony, not even a single princess; only unanimous agreement for the diarchy can bring it to heel. Yet another aspect of it that Celestia was both grateful for and hated with a passion.

Predator. Effectively assassins tasked with hunting down and disposing of threats to Equestia, both inside and out. The number of diplomatic incidents they have caused, especially with the Gryphons, would have shortened her life by centuries if she wasn’t ageless. Instead it was her waist line that was affected.

But she cannot deny that some of the peace Equestria is currently enjoying has their hoof marks over it.

Her interaction with predator consisted of receiving reports, justifications really, for the death of someone. Eventually. When she demanded an explanation, after she finds out from the papers or diplomats typically…if she ever found out.

Not that Equestria is ever to blame with these deaths. If there is ever a connection between a diplomatic death and Equestria, it can more than likely be brushed to the side for something more plausible.

The other interaction with the group of assassins happens when they want to show off a particularly promising student. It was the latter in the case of this most recent summons, and it was a now or never invitation. They knew she was available today and had asked her to come.

Of course she could choose not to go, it would make little difference to ether party; but typically when they do this they ask for assistance in placing their latest assassin somewhere. Which means Celestia actually has some influence in the decision making of said location, so then she knows where the newly released assassin can be found.

This of course makes it easier to keep tabs on these ‘agents’; and considering they are normally the most skilled of their students, it is always a good idea to keep tabs on them herself. Predator certainly wouldn’t tell her anything useful. ‘Plausible deniability my flank.’

So she left right then and there, taking a chariot with an additional relief team –due to its distance away from Canterlot– and having the kitchens pack her breakfast as a picnic for the journey. It would be a long trip, their training grounds were deep with the forests beyond the Smokey Mountains, far to the west. It would be a five hour non-stop flight to get there.

---

“Ah, Princess. Welcome to our humble training ground. We have prepared a meal for yourself and your guard escort; your table has been prepared and is waiting for you. Please, relax and enjoy. Afterwards we can discuss why we have asked you to visit us today.”

With only a quick change over of the guard half way through the flight, the princess’s chariot made good time and managed to touched down before one o clock in the afternoon; earlier than she was expecting.

There was only one place in the near by area that was large enough for her chariot to land safely; and that was the central courtyard. It was a large unpaved area of levelled dirt where most of the basic training would no doubt take place.

It would appear that training here would be postponed, or even cancelled for today.

The complex that predator called home consisted of four main wooden buildings surrounding a central courtyard. The buildings themselves were further connected by wooden walkways completely surrounding the twenty meter square training ground. Overall it was quite a small facility making it easy to blend into the wild, densely forested area the building was located within.

The steep angled roof tiles were multiple shades of green to break up the uniformity and make it difficult to spot from the air. The walls of the buildings had a similar mind set, but the colours were also dispersed with visible wooden support beams, breaking up patterns even more. These irregular patterns had a most interesting effect and made the whole structure all but impossible to see from within this evergreen forest. It may not have been the prettiest set of buildings you’d see, but the effect has managed to keep the complex hidden for all these years.

Celestia had even taken this colouration idea to her military advisors in an attempt to keep more of her ponies alive on the front lines; after all you can’t kill what you can’t see. And ponies had a tendency to stand out, thanks to their brightly coloured coats or manes. So far the patterned clothing to match environments has indeed worked in saving the lives of her little ponies; even with the Gryphons sharp hawk like eyes.

The princess and her four guards were greeted at the steps of the biggest of the buildings by the current three masters. The old white furred pegasus Crane Wing The Master of Pegasi; his gnarled walking stick held firmly in one wing. He did not need that walking club, his short lithe frame still as sure footed as it was nearly a century ago.

Bright Lance The Master of Unicorn’s; her aged mane thinning while still trying valiantly to retain trace amounts of her once vibrant hair colour. It had receded since the last time Celestia had seen the unicorn mare, to form a widow’s peak starting around her horn. The cloudy, unseeing eyes, of the blind mare were piercing right into Celestia’s core.

Finally the newest of the three masters, Thunder Stomp The Master of Earth. An especially well built and powerful earth pony stallion who had once been a part of her own military force; as a front line Capitan if she remembered correctly. He had been ‘retired’ some time ago thanks in part to his age, but also due to numerous complaints from senior officers.

All three were wearing their ceremonial robes of honesty, pure white robes with gold trimmings that covered nearly all of their bodies. While wearing these ceremonial robes, everything they spoke of would be the truth that they know it. While it was purely symbolic, it did give Celestia an ever so slight bit of reassurance; they would not lie to her. That did not mean they would tell her what she wanted to know; but they would at least answer truthfully.

“Hello, my little ponies. I am glad to see you are doing so well. I would indeed appreciate the chance to relax after such a long journey. I take it, Crane Wing, that as you are the prime speaker we shall be discussing one of your students?”

Here all three masters bowed ever so slightly with small smiles appearing on their faces, however Crane wing still spoke. “Not just my student, though I am the one who has trained them the most.” That got Celestia’s attention. That a student has trained with another master was just not heard off. Each master specialises in one thing; their natural innate magic. You could not train an earth pony to fly, you cannot train a pegasus to cast with a horn, you could not train a unicorn to tap into the world’s strength.

“Well then, I look forward to hearing more about this student.”

“Very good Princess; when you are ready we shall be waiting in the meeting room. But please take all the time you require.” And with that the three masters bowed before entering the building and heading towards a set of stairs leading to the next level above.

While the outside of the building was decorated to best hide it from friend and foe; inside was much more appealing. It was still basic – light, almost golden wooden beams could be seen alongside the shell white of the walls– but it held a natural beauty all to its own.

To the right were a large set of stairs leading higher up. They were old and the individual steps worn from centuries of hooves travelling both up and down them; however the stairs themselves were just as sturdy as when they were first put in place all those centuries ago.

To the left was a large corridor leading to a sharp corner; several doors could be seen, spaced sporadically. This corridor led past the kitchens and storage rooms before arriving at a set of double doors separating a bathhouse from the rest of the complex.

Princess Celestia and her guards however walked straight and further into the building where the mess hall was located. It was of moderate size; two long tables with equally long benches were situated on either side of a central corridor that led to a raised platform where the main feature of the room sat.

It was a large beautifully carved piece of rich golden wood wonderfully kept depicting Equestria with two alicorns framing the map on each end. It looked as if their fore legs where holding the country up.

The two alicorns were similar, but not identical. They were the same size and rough shape, though the right one clearly had a larger flank than the left; who looked to be better toned as well. Their tails and manes were both billowing and wavy; but while the right one had individual lines, the left alicorns mane and tail were spotted. On each alicorn were their cutie marks; the left one was of the crescent moon, while the right one’s was the sun.

On the top side of the map were all the different tribes of ponies, including the reclusive Lunar Pegasus. They were all arranged one after another in a pattern along the maps top most side and had an air about them that could only be described as happy.

The underside of the map was of two halves; the lowest contained carved images of a lot of the other races found on the planet, including the odd pony from a few of the tribes, looking dark and menacing. Above all these enemies was the image of one pony of each of the tribes wielding the symbol of predator.

This piece depicted what Luna wanted to achieve with predator; in a sense it was the charter for what predator stood for. Happy ponies and a country held up and supported by the two sisters; with their enemies kept at bay by the influence of this organisation.

It is with a painful, but bitter sweet smile that Celestia looks upon the only piece of art her sister made that had not been squirreled away deep inside Canterlot Castle. She drags her eyes away from it before her composure breaks any more, and looks for her personal table.

Just as been promised, up in the upper right corner –and just out of view of the carving– was a circular table separated from the long benches of the main eating area.

Her table had plush cushions surrounding it of rich purples and golden thread, and actually on the table itself was a large porcelain pot of tea already waiting along with five cups in a position of one cup opposite the four others. Celestia had to admit they knew how she liked to be treated, more so than some of her own castle staff.

It was difficult convincing her solders to eat with her and not to sit at one of the benches; but eventually they accepted their fate and started to eat the selection of charcoal roasted vegetables, rice, and a light mushroom and seaweed broth. It would be very different than what the solders normally ate; honestly Celestia was a little curious if they enjoyed it or not.

Fed, watered, and now much more relaxed than when she arrived; Celestia made her way upstairs and towards the only meeting room an hour later. This place had not changed since Luna had shown her it all those years ago, so she did not need directions, or an escort. She arrived at the sliding door of the meeting room and it opened before she had a chance to knock, or otherwise state her presence. She didn’t need too; Bright Lance would have seen her coming kilometres away thanks to her Mage Sight.

The Masters rose to greet her as she entered, and once everyone was comfortable and additional tea was offered, did the business begin.

“Princess Celestia. We have asked you here to assist us in a rather unique situation we find ourselves with.” Crane Wing started, and already this meeting was very different than what she was used to when dealing with predator. They never asked for her help.

“You see we have a student, a Miss Sunset Shimmer, who is ready for field work. However her training is extensive enough that it requires a different approach.”

“You indicated that this Sunset Shimmer has trained with at least two of you, but as you are the prime speaker Crane wing, I take it she is a pegasus?”

“No Princess, she is a Unicorn. I believe it may be best if we go into detail with this student”

A unicorn who is mostly taught by a pegasus? “It sounds like a good idea, yes”

“One of our agents recovered her from an orphanage after noticing she had talents useful to us. However, due to an ambush with a manticore she received a severe head injury just hours before arriving here. Our onsite doctors and nurses made her whole again, but there were complications it seems.

“Her ability to feel emotions has been heavily hampered, while her focus, logic, and post-accident memory all seemed to have been boosted. We are not pursuing how this has happened, Princess, to not tempt us into trying to replicate it. But suffice to say, she is an extremely bright mare now.

“We monitored her condition as she trained with us, giving her additional lessons on Emotion Reading and Mimicry to try and compensate for the lack of them. And it was during one of these examinations that she learnt of magic wells and by extension the magical differences of the tribes.

“Princess you are aware of the magical procedure of unicorns converting their energy so as to stabilise the magical cores of others?”

“Yes I am aware of it, though it is not commonly used. The Emergency Energy Generation spell is very complex and the conversion rate is horribly inefficient that only the most powerful of unicorns are capable of achieving it.

“It is far simpler for a doctor of the same tribe to stabilise a core with their own innate magic. But why the sudden change in topic. Wait, are you saying she can use this spell to convert her magic to that of the other tribes?”

“That is precisely what I’m saying, Princess.”

“But even if she can use the spell, why train her in it. There is no practical use for that spell out of its theorised use; it is simply too inefficient.”

“We did not train her in it, as your logic is the same as ours. She trained herself in it. She has mastered that spell and has even improved upon it, though only she knows how. At this point she has access to all of the tribe’s magic and can use them as she wishes; with only her Magic Well and one tribal magic at a time being the limiting factors.”

This is certainly something new and rather chilling. “I see. So once you discovered what she was doing, you started training her in all the tribal magic’s, probably out of curiosity to see how far she can take them. I see now why Bright Lance has had so little contact with her then. She can learn everything of unicorn magic from books or self-discovery. But to master the winds and become as sturdy as the earth; that can only be learnt from others, in her situation.”

“Exactly right Princess, if she so chooses she could do everything and live as a pegasus. I believe she struggles with the growing aspect of earth ponies though; but that could be due to there being no combat situation requiring a fast growing plant.”

“So I gather she must also know the Polymorph spell, since she would need to actually have a pair of wings in order to fly and be a pegasus. Sigh, is there anything else I should know about her before we start discussing where to put such a dangerous pony.”

At this point Bright Lance spoke up, “I have taught her how to access her Mage Sight, and to create a Void Pocket; along with my signature Bright Lance. That spell in particular, she has been quite creative with.”

Thunder Stomp was next to speak. “She can manipulate the earth, has gained access to earth ponies resistances, sure footedness, endurance and strength. She even has use of my Thunder Strike.” He seemed bitter about her learning that particular ability.

Crane Wing once more spoke up, “I have taught her everything there is to know about being a Pegasus. From flying, cloud walking, to full weather control and shock absorption. She is an impressive flyer.”

“Add those to an advanced unicorn’s repertoire and you have a very versatile fighter with excellent manoeuvrability and endurance to match. What, were you trying to make your very own alicorn?” she said that with a hint of a smile; however it faltered when the three looked at her with a straight face.

“Perhaps you still do not fully grasp our accidental success, and the seriousness of this.” It was Bright Lance who was speaking, the one who had taught this Sunset Shimmer the least.

“You mentioned a unicorn’s repertoire, so you must be familiar with the field of Scrying magic? More specifically the spell Arcane Sight and the magic’s that allows the caster to see the full spell script of other spells; and to eventually be able to manipulate said magic’s?” The Princess nodded knowing many of these spells herself. “I did not know that she knew these spells when I taught her how to unlock Mage’s Sight. She can now see the script of spells, as well as how the magic flows and how it is being used by the spell.”

“An impressive feat to be sure, but she is not the only one capable of those separate feats; you yourself have access to both of those do you not?”

“I am not as intelligent as she is. Given sufficient time to see spells, be it repeated casting or prolonged exposure, she will have worked out enough of the spell matrix to render them nearly useless against her.

“Yes, I can do this as well, but what would take me tens of minutes for simple spells such as Flair; she has disabled a three tier reinforced shield with a randomised access glyph in less than two minutes. Yes that was in test conditions, but all it will take is experience and she will be able to manipulate any spell that is thrown her way.

“There is potentially more as well. We have no proof, other than spells such as the Scrying magic she knows; but we believe she has had access to our restricted library for at least a year, maybe even two. She has not shown any other restricted magic’s but that girl is obsessed with books, if she has had access to those restricted tomes, she will have read them.”

“…I see. It is beginning to sound like you asked me to come here today in the hopes that I may kill her?”
“NO!” Crane Wing quickly interjected, “I mean no that will not be necessary. We just wanted you to fully grasp what she is capable of. In reality she is much too mild mannered to be an effective offensive agent. That is why we asked for your assistance, we would like her to be a defensive agent in protecting Equestria. One that responds to active threats, rather than the ones we have removing threats before they have a chance to become active.”

That, that one sentence made this whole thing worth it in Celestia’s mind. “Are you saying that potentially the greatest assassin you have ever produced is too mild mannered to actually do what you were hoping,” she took a sip of tea to try and hide the very large grin she currently had on her face.

“When you put it like that Princess, yes. We have, on our hooves right now, a viable pony who could actually be called an Alicorn Killer and she is too mild mannered to be an effective offensive agent. So we have come seeking your help in placing her as a defensive agent.”

Silence fell as thoughts were gathered, a few sips of tea to help ease the tension that was building as people talked. Eventually the silence had to be broken.

“May I meet this agent of yours? This Sunset Shimmer?”

“Of course,” with two thumps of his cane, Crane Wing summoned a pony to the meeting room’s door. A quick few words and the pony was off again.

“While we are waiting; Crane Wing there is still something you need to tell me. What is your relationship with this mare?”

“Princess?”

“You have taught her everything to be a pegasus. The sudden interruption when I mentioned killing her; the proud tone in your voice as you speak of what she has achieved. What is your relationship with this pony?”

The Master of Pegasi had the decency to look ashamed at his outcry, now that they had been pointed out.

“I was the first to discover she was training to use the magic of all the pony tribes. She wanted to fly, that was her only reason. She wanted to feel what it was like to be a pegasus and fly with only her own effort and magic holding her up. She wanted to fly in the sea of the stars one day. She was thirteen when she said that to me.

“It hit a nerve something terrible. I never got to teach my own daughter how to fly; and I admit that I used young Sunset as a substitute. I told her of the Polymorph spell and assisted her with useing it to grow her own wings. From there it really was like I’d imagined. Building up the flapping strength to make them actually work, getting the pegasus magic to help the wings rather than hinder them.

“It took her two years of effort and I was helping all the time, but eventually she got there. She was actually flying all on her own, her own wing muscles her own magic just getting converted into pegasi that she was controlling; even her own wings grown with a Polymorph spell.

“Before you say anything, yes I told her about the spell that makes butterfly wings. But as soon as she heard how fragile they were she replied simply with the words, ‘Well that’s dumb.’ She sounded so much like a pegasus then; I couldn’t help but get lost at all the what if’s and I started helping then.” His eyes were far away, lost to all the possibilities and what could have been that history had never given him the chance to experience.

“You must have known on that day that her temperament was not what you were looking for,” Princess Celestia was warming to this unicorn mare and she hadn’t even met her yet.

Crane Wing looked at his companions before responding to her. “Honestly we knew she did not have the aggressive nature we needed within the first year of her training. But she was just so much fun to teach; and she wanted to thank us for adopting her in whatever way she could, by making us proud of her.”

There was a knock at the door, before the same pony that was summoned previously came in again, alone. A quick whispered conversation and the pony was off once more.

“I’m sorry Princess, when I asked her to be discreet while you are with us; she seems to have translated it as ‘take off for the afternoon, I’m not needed’. I have sent for her mentor to track her down; they should be here within the hour.”

“That is quite all right. It reminds me of my own students; never around when you need them. But back to the topic at hoof. I have a place in mind, you said she likes books? Well how would she like to be a librarian? There’s a small town just a few hours away from Canterlot called Ponyville that has been without a librarian for years now.

“If she could, while she is there, thin out the monsters within the Everfree Forest which resides nearby, that will go a long way to reassuring me that you are correct about her.” The three Masters seemed happy with this idea, and the details were hammered out. She then left before it got any later in the day, missing the chance to meet this exceptional mare.

---

Blinking away the memories of her meeting with the masters of predator, her mind was still stuck in two different ways. Sunset Shimmer was dangerous, that much was clear, but everything she had heard about her said she was a good pony. She wished she could have met the mare in question but she had just run out of time, and needed to get back to the castle.

Then of course there was this problem coming down the line, could she risk such a dangerous figure running around just to have a backup plan in place for next year?

Getting up from her position on the floor she walked over to the, now cold, cup of tea sitting there in the side table. With a splash of magic the liquid was warmed and she took a long deep drink, draining the cup in one mouthful before swallowing. “Sigh, it is too late to do anything about it now, the die has been cast. Let’s hope your existence can bring some good, Sunset Shimmer.” Celestia doused the lights in her living area as she finally entered her bed chambers and prepared for a, hopefully, pleasant nights sleep.

Comments

[K-O-D-E-X]

If Celestia herself doesn't create an absolute mess in Predator if/when she learns the true nature of sunset I'm going to be severely disappointed in her.

still very interesting it seem like either the professors don't know about the docs shady dealings or are willingly ignorant